Goorianawa [song]

[Editor: This song was published in Old Bush Songs: Composed and Sung in the Bushranging, Digging, and Overlanding Days (8th edition, 1932), edited by Banjo Paterson.]

Goorianawa

Now I’m getting broken mouthed,
My shearing’s at an end,
Although they call me Whalebone,
I was never known to bend.
I’ve shorn in every woolshed
From the Barwon to the Bree,
But I got speared at Goorianawa
Before I raddled three.
For by the living Joseph
I never saw before
Such sheep as made us knuckle down
At Goorianawa.

Source:
A. B. Paterson (editor), Old Bush Songs: Composed and Sung in the Bushranging, Digging, and Overlanding Days (8th edition), Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1932, p. 87

See also:
Robert Curran, “Origins of the Old Bush Song “Goorianawa””, Borclaud

Editor’s notes:
Barwon = the Barwon River (Victoria); the Barwon River (New South Wales)

Bree = the Bree River (New South Wales), part of the Culgoa River, located near Brewarrina and Goodooga, near the Queensland border (this river is mentioned in various historical newspapers, but is not named on modern maps; however, the Culgoa River can be seen on modern maps)
See: 1) Demetrius, “The Drainage Country of the Darling”, The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (Sydney, NSW), 28 April 1883, p. 781 [“the waters of the Bree and the Bokhira are reached, which form a portion of the Culgoa River”]
2) historical newspapers, IAC list (on Trove)

broken mouthed = missing one or more of the incisor teeth, regarding animals, such as cows and sheep (especially old sheep); of or relating to sheep whose teeth, especially the incisor teeth, have become badly worn or fallen out; an old sheep [in this poem, the author is referring to himself as getting old, “Now I’m getting broken mouthed”]

Goorianawa = a locality in New South Wales, located north-west of Coonabarabran and north of Warrumbungle

Joseph = Saint Joseph, husband of Mary (who were the parents of Jesus Christ)

raddle = to colour the front of a ram (a male sheep) with a coloured mixture called “raddle” (historically, red ocher was used; although other types of mixture can be applied), so that a farm worker can tell if a ram has mated with an ewe (a female sheep), or which ewes (where several are involved), as the back of the ewes become coloured with raddle (can also mean: broken-down, run-down, worn-out, showing signs of old age, looking old, fatigued, or very tired)
See: 1) Michael Geary, “What are the benefits of raddling rams for the breeding season?”, Agriland, 10 October 2019
2) Rosemary Champion, “Using raddle ”, The Accidental Smallholder
3) “Raddling lambs during mating”, Farming Independent, 8 October 2002
4) “raddle”, Yorkshire Historical Dictionary